Jelsomina gives a plate of noodles from her mother to the street performer Dzampano. Beaten, abused and cheated, she never loses her childlike sincerity on the road and remains attached to her new employer. When she meets a circus acrobat who seems to be the only one able to understand her, Dzampano, who has been indifferent to her, is suddenly overwhelmed by uncontrollable aggression. "The Road is a film about love and cruelty that marked the end of Federico Fellini's neorealist period and earned him international acclaim.